2016 Food + Enterprise Keynote Address: Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez

SHARE

JESSAMYN WALDMAN RODRIGUEZ

Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez is an entrepreneur and leader in the social enterprise movement. She is the founder and CEO of Hot Bread Kitchen, an award winning East Harlem-based social enterprise that builds lasting economic security for low-income, immigrant and minority individuals by creating pathways to professional opportunities in the culinary industry. Before launching Hot Bread Kitchen, Jessamyn focused on human rights, education and immigration issues in positions at NGOs, the government and the United Nations. After receiving her Master Baker Certificate from the New School and becoming the first female baker at Daniel Boulud’s eponymous restaurant, she launched Hot Bread from her home kitchen in 2007. Jessamyn has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Global Citizen Award from the Clinton Global Initiative and Crain’s New York’s “40 Under 40.” She was named a 2016 Women of Influence by NY Business Journal and one of 2015’s “Most Innovative Women in Food” by Food & Wine and Fortune magazines.